Julius Fintelmann (right) founder of The European Correspondent speaking at the European Youth Event on 14 June 2025

It's been five years since the UK left the EU, and nine years since the Brexit vote. So what kind of EU has Britain left behind - and how are journalists covering it?

Here's the surprising twist: Brexit actually helped create a more united EU. European readers and politicians now want to see the European project succeed more than ever. At the same time, traditional ways of making money from news - advertising and grants - have become unreliable.

This creates a perfect opportunity for news outlets willing to bet everything on building direct relationships with engaged European readers.

Bottom line: The outlets convincing readers to pay for solutions-focused European coverage have the best shot at survival.

EUobserver shows how tough this transition can be. As one of the first digital EU news sites, it's celebrating 25 years of covering European policy through a human rights lens. Despite having just eight staff members, this non-profit has built a solid reputation.

The outlet focuses on stories that don't get much coverage elsewhere because there's no industry money behind them - things like rule of law, workers' rights, transparency, migration, and climate policy. They recently made headlines with a Gaza human rights report that was shared with EU Foreign Ministers but then quietly buried.

The money reality: Right now, EUobserver gets 40 per cent of its revenue from memberships, 30per cent from advertising, and 30per cent from foundations. But they want to be 80 per cent reader-funded by 2027.

Why the shift? Foundation funding is drying up. USAID has been cut, foundations are changing how they give money, and market troubles........

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